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This spring, Northern Arizona University announced plans to use RFID devices, already contained in each student card, to track attendance at lectures and tutorials. The school's administration presents it as a sensible innovation that uses technology to save time and effort; instead of professors taking a roll call each class, or passing a sign-in sheet that's easy to tamper with, attendance will be automatically and effortlessly taken, and the whole process is no more a violation of privacy than any other method of taking attendance. But some students and privacy advocates see it as a slide down a slippery slope, pointing out that if sensors were distributed throughout the campus, it would be possible not only to see how many students showed up for a lecture and stayed until the end, but also to track and record the movements of every student.

As RFID comes into wider use for functions beyond tracking stock and merchandise, and particularly for monitoring people, controversies like this will become more common. In most cases, there is both a potential reduction in privacy as well as an increase in efficiency.

Whether the result is ultimately a net good is up for debate. RFID, and electronic storage and transmission of information more broadly, often evokes concerns about breaches of privacy. In practice, the technology often replaces tracking methods prone to security lapses.

The use of RFID records in hospitals, for instance, has raised fears that hackers with the right equipment could, if they were close enough to the tag, download or tamper with medical files. The current system for record-keeping in most hospitals, though, is much less secure; files are often kept on clipboards on the foot of each bed, or in a folder on the door, where little effort and no equipment is necessary to scan confidential information.

The nature of information stored in an RFID chip also makes a big difference in the potential loss of privacy. Many newer passports have tags embedded in them, allowing customs officials to pull up files before they encounter travellers directly. The success of wallets that block RFID transmission, usually with metal as thick as the wall of a soda can, reflects fears that scanners could make all the personal information contained in a passport, as well as travel history, essentially public knowledge. In fact, the only information contained in the tag is the passport number, which is used to call up the right file from their own secure database.

"Passive RFID tags usually operate like licence plates when additional information around the number exists," explains Andrew Ta, a solutions consultant for Bell Canada who specializes in RFID and mobile technologies. "The number by itself doesn't provide information, it usually references the relevant file in a database. If the master data is secure and access is limited, then a licence plate number being publicly displayed is not a threat to privacy."

Customer loyalty programs, which yield often detailed information about buying patterns, are an example of RFID providing benefits to all parties. Participation is always consensual, and often subject to privacy laws. "In any reward program you trade off some personal information for benefits," Mr. Ta points out. "If you believe that the points or discounts you earn are worth allowing your purchases to be tracked, then it makes sense to participate."

Potential applications for RFID in the future often involve streamlining processes and increasing customer convenience. Checkout stands that could take a snapshot of all merchandise at once using their tags, rather than requiring each item to be scanned by a clerk, would expedite the shopping experience, and if RFID were used automatically to debit a designated card, paying for purchases could become as easy as pushing a cart through sensors. In many regions in Europe and Asia, RFID enables cellphone users to pay for parking, public transit, gasoline or fast food by bringing the handset close to an antenna. Safeguards that require a password or code to transfer funds or information can be customized by the consumer, so that all transactions over a certain amount, or with new vendors, require authorization while small or routine payments do not.

With the capability to transfer data from the consumer to a manufacturer or service provider automatically and remotely, RFID has the potential to personalize to do lists. Cars or home appliances could transmit health status or the results of diagnostics to service centres automatically, for example, so maintenance and repairs could be arranged before a breakdown occurs. "Do people want a database to track how well their fridge is operating?" asks Dr. Yeona Jang, a professor at McGill University's Desautels School of Management. "This may be of use. However, there are privacy issues that need to be addressed accordingly, as technology advances."

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JULY 27

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